


Non-Traditional Family

by matrixrefugee



Category: Castle
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-02
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-11-08 03:45:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17973833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/matrixrefugee/pseuds/matrixrefugee
Summary: A student counselor can't get her head around how Alexis's family, as wacky as they seem, are more functional that it looks on paper.





	Non-Traditional Family

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://fic-promptly.dreamwidth.org/profile)[fic_promptly](http://fic-promptly.dreamwidth.org/)'s [Castle, Alexis, she doesn't know why they call it a broken home](http://fic-promptly.dreamwidth.org/133992.html?thread=6236264#cmt6236264). The personality of the counselor is loosely based on a somewhat jerkish counselor I put up with for six months some years ago. There is a reason why I have a tee-shirt that reads "Be careful or you'll end up in my novel".

As part of her college application, Alexis had been advised to talk to a student counselor; she took this as formality, though the thought of going away to college felt more than a bit daunting. But halfway through the session, she started to wonder about this particular counselor.

The woman -- Sherry or Cheryl or something like that -- seemed kindly and attentive, but something about her twigged Alexis.

"I'm impressed with your school record," the counselor said, sitting forward, elbows on the arms of her chair. "Usually when someone comes from a broken home, their grades and their extra-curricular activities tend to suffer."

Alexis stared at the woman as if she'd turned green and sprouted antennae. "Excuse me? I wouldn't really call my home broken. I mean, we've got problems, but it's not like my dad is a mean drunk or something."

"That's true, but your father was divorced twice: going through that does something to a family," the counselor prodded.

"If you knew my bio-mom, you'd see why the marriage fell apart," Alexis said. "She's like...a hurricane. If a hurricane blew into Saks Fifth Avenue and out the back door with an armload of shopping bags. She's fun, but only in small doses. Baby aspirin-size doses."

The counselor jotted something on the pad on her lap. "What about your step-mother?"

"She's my dad's editor. I wasn't really close to her," Alexis said. "I think they crossed a line that two business partners probably shouldn't, but they realized they'd made a mistake and they corrected it as best as they could."

"You feel protective of your father and his choices."

Alexis shrugged. "I love him and I respect what he chooses. He's not perfect, but he does his best."

"You're very mature: are you compensating for your father and your grandmother's...lack of maturity?"

It was all Alexis could do to keep from really staring, if not glaring. "Well, someone needs to be the adult, but they're not bad people. Just... wacky. And fun. I wouldn't want them any other way,"

"But you do sense a lack of balance."

Alexis sighed, trying not to betray her impatience. "Maybe we're not exactly the Cleavers, but we do all right. We love each other, we're there for each other and we have fun together. Maybe we drive each other crazy and try each others patience to the breaking point. But families do that, whether there's a mom and a dad, just a mom, just a dad, two moms, two dads, grandparents, or no grandparents. Guess we're just another kind of non-traditional family. We're happy together, and that's what matters, doesn't it?"

The counselor blinked, thankfully with no answer to that, except to squiggle something on her pad that she crossed out and twiddled with some more.


End file.
